Ondas Holdings Says ScottsMiracle-Gro Will Use American Robotics’ Autonomous Drones for Crop Analysis

Ondas Holdings Inc. today announced that its American Robotics Inc. subsidiary has received a new purchase order from The Scotts MiracleGro Co. for its autonomous Scout Systems. The drones will provide ScottsMiracle-Gro with daily data-collection and analysis capabilities, and the purchase marks American Robotics' continued expansion into key commercial markets, said Ondas.

“To meet the demands of a growing population and a changing climate, industries are turning to advanced robotics and AI to unlock increased efficiency and sustainability,” stated Reese Mozer, co-founder and CEO of American Robotics. “Companies like ScottsMiracle-Gro can rely on the drone program enabled by American Robotics to collect, process, and analyze key data, enhancing research and development capabilities for new consumer lawn and garden products."

"The Scout System will empower the ScottsMiracle-Gro team to collect this data autonomously at frequencies and resolutions never before possible to gain real-time insights into the health and performance of their grass seed varietals,” he explained.

Ondas Holdings provides private wireless data and aerial drone systems through its wholly owned Ondas Networks and American Robotics subsidiaries, respectively. Together, they offer users in oil and gas, rail, mining, agriculture, and critical infrastructure markets with improved connectivity and data collection capabilities, it said.

American Robotics an FAA-approved BVLOS operator

Waltham, Mass.-based American Robotics designs, develops, and markets industrial drones for rugged, real-world environments. The company said its Scout System uses artificial intelligence and is capable of continuous, remote operation. The MassRobotics member markets Scout as a "drone-in-a-box" turnkey data service under a robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) business model.

American Robotics added that its fully automated drone systems can conduct multiple missions per day without a human observer on the ground. This provides the ability to track and analyze data without physically sending employees into the field, according to the company.

The Scout System is the first drone system approved by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration for automated operation beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) without a human pilot on-site, noted American Robotics.

ScottsMiracle-Gro to collect high-fidelity field data

ScottsMiracle-Gro plans to install American Robotics' drones at its headquarters in Marysville, Ohio, and begin operations in the second quarter of 2022.

Implementing autonomous drones at this location will allow employees to efficiently and cost-effectively analyze high-fidelity field data in near-real time.

“ScottsMiracle-Gro believes a robust, fully automated drone program enabled by American Robotics’ Scout System represents a significant opportunity for our team when it comes to our continued efforts related to advancing genetic and trait research in the consumer lawn and garden category,” said Dave Wagoner, director of enterprise architecture and innovation at ScottsMiracle-Gro.

“This new technology will allow our team to expand and optimize the frequency and resolution of the multi-spectral and thermal imagery data we collect, which has proven to be a valuable data point and benchmark for our scientists in various studies during the growing season,” he said.